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How to start your family tree

As always the journey to starting begins with a single step. But unsure of where to begin? Below are my tips for starting your family tree journey:

1. Start with what you know about your family.

Gather together all the information you know about your family. Where you were born, who your parents were, who their parents are, if you know who their parents were etc.

2. Talk to your relatives.

Talking to our relatives about our backgrounds is a great step and can often reveal lots of family stories. Ask them about their childhoods and what their early life was like.

3. Put it on paper

Start a simple family tree with the data you know. Eg your parents and their parents. At this stage you could try a free trial of a website like Ancestry.com to put your tree together but on paper will do fine.

4. Start expanding your search

Now comes the fun part! The research! Start by searching free sites like familysearch.org or the various Births, Deaths and Marriages sites for records. Also look at newspaper sites like Trove for Australia or Papers Past for New Zealand. Often family notices for deaths or weddings can give you a clue to follow.

Usually you may find a person you are researching on a site like Ancestry.com however sometimes these can contain incorrect or misleading information. Always, always, corroborate the information you see on these trees with official sources like births, deaths and marriages records.

As always, I am here to help if you need! Email me at fecrisp@brickwallsresearch.com and I will help!